Electrical Power and Energy Systems 32 (2010) 225–235

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Electrical Power and Energy Systems

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijepes

Reduction of THD and low order harmonics with symmetrical output current
for single-phase ac/ac matrix converters
Ebrahim Babaei a,*, Seyed Hossein Hosseini a, Gevorg B. Gharehpetian b
a
Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Tabriz, Tabriz 51664, Iran
b
Electrical Engineering Department, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this paper, the modulation strategies are developed for single-phase ac/ac matrix converters. These are
Received 7 April 2008 named positive, negative and combined switching strategies. Reduction of low order input and output
Received in revised form 9 April 2009 currents harmonics with sinusoidal output voltages is achieved using the proposed switching strategies.
Accepted 3 July 2009
There are no low frequency harmonics in the output voltage, as well. Furthermore, total harmonic distor-
tion (THD) is reduced significantly. Using the combined switching strategy, the symmetrical output volt-
age and current can be achieved. The converter with the proposed switching strategies has been modeled
Keywords:
and simulated by PSCAD software. The simulation results have a good agreement with measurement
Matrix converter
Single-phase converter
results.
Cycloconverter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Generalized transformer
Bi-directional switch

1. Introduction them involve clamped circuits [2–7]. Electrolytic capacitors or dc

A power electronic ac/ac converter, in generic form, accepts
electric power from one system and converts it for delivery to an-
other ac system with waveforms of different amplitude, frequency
and phase. They may be single or three phase types depending on
their power ratings. This paper deals with single-phase ac/ac
converters.
One method to achieve the single-phase ac/ac converter is to
use indirect method. This method consists of more than one power
conversion stage where the operation of these stages is decoupled
on an instantaneous basis by means of energy storage elements
such as capacitors and inductors. As an example, one of indirect
single-phase ac/ac converters uses single-phase eight-switch con-
verters (i.e., two full-bridge) with a dc bus capacitor link. It is also
possible to implement a single-phase ac/ac converter system
employing a four-switch converter, i.e., two half-bridge. However,
it is worth mentioning that a half-bridge converter has half of the
voltage capability of a full-bridge one. Another single-phase to sin-
gle-phase design involves six-switch converter. This topology is
more economic than that of the eight-switch converter and also
presents a superior performance when compared to the four-
switch converter [1]. Several designs have also emerged; some of
* Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +98 411 3300819.
E-mail addresses: e-babaei@tabrizu.ac.ir, babaeiebrahim@yahoo.com (E. Babaei),
hosseini@tabrizu.ac.ir (S.H. Hosseini), grptain@aut.ac.ir (G.B. Gharehpetian).
reactors used in these circuits reduce the life expectancy of the
unit. Other disadvantages can be summarized as follows [8,9]:
 poor total input power factor,
 rich in input current harmonics,
 large input and output filters must be used for harmonic
reduction,
 one-directional power transfer (non-regenerative),
 costly and bulky large electrolytic capacitors at dc-link. This
results in the increase of system’s size, weight, cost and losses,
 it is impossible to acquire high power density and the multi-
stages will certainly decrease the reliability of systems,
 the dc-link slows down the dynamic response of the circuit.
To avoid this two-stage process, direct ac/ac converter can be
used. The ac/ac power converters in which ac power at one
frequency is directly converted to ac power at another frequency
without any intermediate dc conversion link are known as cyclo-
converters, the majority of which use naturally commutated sili-
con-controlled rectifiers for their operation when the maximum
output frequency is limited to a fraction of the input frequency.
With the rapid advancement in fast-acting fully controllable
switches, force-commutated cycloconverters [10,11] or recently
developed matrix converters with bi-directional on/off control
switches provide independent control of the magnitude and fre-
quency of the generated output voltage as well as sinusoidal mod-
ulation of output voltage and current [12–15].

0142-0615/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijepes.2009.07.004
226 E. Babaei et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 32 (2010) 225–235
The matrix converter was first introduced in 1979 by Peter
Wood. Based on Pelly and Gyugyi’s work on the naturally commu-
tated cycloconverter, he derived the switching matrix as the sim-
plest conceivable topology that could perform poly-phase to
poly-phase power conversion. Later, Alesina and Venturini em-
ployed this topology to develop the first ac to ac forced commu-
tated converter. Results obtained from this converter were so
promising that they named it, generalized transformer [16]. Some
advantages of the matrix converters are [17–20]:
 sinusoidal input and output current waveforms with small
distortion,
 adjustable input power factor regardless of the load, generally
with unity power factor,
 bilateral transformation of energy,
 elimination of energy storage components,
 high-efficiency and fast-response,
 reduction of installation area and integration of more complex
silicon structures in power modules,
 higher controllability,
 the number of phases on input and output sides are independent
of each other,
 the waveform and the frequency on both sides are independent
of each other,
 a matrix converter can reproduce any waveform without using
any additional power hardware,
 it can be used as a full four-quadrant power supply without any
additional power hardware,
 elimination of temperature sensitive electrolytic dc-link capaci-
tors, which results in higher reliability and higher operating
temperature.
Thus, the matrix converter has the major potential to provide
direct ac/ac conversion without energy storage elements. However,
the matrix converter has some disadvantages. One of the major
problems is the complexity of the control circuit. Other problems
in high power applications are switching losses in the switching
devices and stresses of switching dv/dt and di/dt on devices. Also,
the matrix converter has a lower voltage transfer ratio and higher
sensitivity to power grid disturbances.
The single-phase ac/ac matrix converter can be used in many
industrial applications. An electric locomotive supplied from
15 kV, 16 2/3 Hz mains, comprises a bulky transformer feeding a
power rectifier. When available, the single-phase matrix converter
can be used to step up the frequency, followed by transformation
and rectification. In this way, a lot of weight (few tons) of the
power transformer can be saved [12].
Another application of the single-phase ac/ac matrix converter
may be in input stage of a power electronic transformer (PET). A
Input
Voltage Primary
(50 or 60 Hz ) Converter
Fig. 1. Single-phase power electronic transformer.
low frequency (50/60 Hz) transformer is one of the most bulky
and expensive components in an electrical power system. Operat-
ing the transformer at a high frequency is an approach to reduce
the size and weight of transformers. The solid state transformer
is introduced to reduce the size of the transformer through a high
operating frequency. At input stage of the solid state transformer
system, a low frequency input is rectified to dc voltage, and then
the dc voltage is converted to a high frequency ac voltage by an in-
verter. The high frequency operation allows reduction in the size
and weight of the isolation transformer. The high frequency ac
voltage is rectified and converted to the desired ac voltage by an
inverter in the output stage. With recent progress in high power
switching devices, an electronic transformer is introduced as
shown in Fig. 1 [21]. Multi-stage power conversion can be reduced
by applying an ac/ac converter on either primary or secondary side
of the transformer [22]. The primary converter in Fig. 1 may be eas-
ily replaced by the proposed single-phase matrix converter that is
a frequency step-up converter.
Also, single-phase ac/ac converter has other applications such
as variable frequency speed control of single-phase induction mo-
tors, single-phase induction heating system, and low power equip-
ment such as switching mode power supplies [23–25].
This paper deals with single-phase ac/ac matrix converters. The
single-phase variant denoted as single-phase matrix converter was
first realized by Zuckerberger et al. [12]. The use of safe-commuta-
tion switches with pulse width modulation (PWM) control can sig-
nificantly improve the performance of ac/ac converters. This has
been presented in a number of technical publications [26,27],
where different ac/ac converters were proposed. In the conven-
tional single-phase matrix converter, however, the ac output
voltage cannot exceed the ac input voltage. In addition, both bi-
directional switches of any phase leg can never be turned on at
the same time; otherwise current spikes generated in this way will
destroy the switches [26]. These limitations can be overcome by
using Z-source inverter [28]. Considering the topologies of the
Z-source converter, it is observed that they could be directly
extended or derived from the well-understood Z-source inverter
topology. When used in ac/ac power conversion, the Z-source
converter can provide higher output voltage than traditional
PWM ac/ac converter advantageously. In addition, the simulta-
neous on or off state cannot destroy the devices. It is important to
mention that the Z-source converters use the passive component
and this point limits the output frequency of the converter [15].
The main purpose of this paper is to show that single-phase ma-
trix converters may be conceived, designed and realized. Ref. [12]
has introduced a switching strategy for producing a variable sin-
gle-phase output voltage from constant single-phase input voltage.
In this paper, the method proposed by Zuckerberger et al. [12] is
called positive switching strategy. By this method, the output
High
Frequency Secondary
Load
Transformer Converter
 E. Babaei et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 32 (2010) 225–235 227

io During any ith sequence, the sampling period, T iS , will be di-

vided to two-time intervals ti1 and ti2 as shown in Fig. 3, and T iS is
related with these time intervals as follows:

S11 S12 + T iS ¼ ti1 þ t i2 ð3Þ

This paper presents three modulation strategies for producing
vo sinusoidal output voltage:

S 21 S 22 −  the positive switching strategy,

 the negative switching strategy,
 the combined switching strategy.

vi
ii
2.1. Positive switching strategy

Fig. 2. Single-phase matrix converter. The output voltage can be synthesized by switching the input
voltage according to the algorithm shown in Fig. 4. This algorithm
has two rules:
current is not symmetrical. Therefore the input and output cur-
rents consist of some undesirable low frequency harmonics. Also, During time interval ti1;P : S11 and S22 must be on, and the
this method has high THD for quantities on input and output sides. remaining switches must be off.
The undesirable current harmonics cause many problems, such as During time interval ti2;P : S12 and S21 must be on, and the
heating and reduction of life in transformers and induction ma- remaining switches must be off.
chines and degradation of system voltage waveform. A high quality
source current and stable mains’ voltage are generally welcomed in Fig. 5 shows the switches commands during ith sampling
the utility and load sides. This paper develops the switching strat- period.
egy which overcomes the mentioned problems. The new proposed By defining the following switch patterns:
method has benefits compared to the method proposed in [12] like
t 1;P
a symmetrical output current and reduction of THD. The main P1 ¼
TS
advantage of the new proposed method is a significant reduction ð4Þ
t 2;P
of the low order harmonic components of the input current and P2 ¼
also the output current and voltage.
TS
The main constraint of the proposed control methods is that it is Eq. (3) can be rewritten as follows:
not possible to operate in asynchronous mode. Therefore, the input
P1 þ P2 ¼ 1 ð5Þ
and output waveforms must be synchronized and the fundamental
of output voltage must cross zero more frequently than the input It is obvious that:
voltage. Hence, the single-phase matrix converter is a frequency
0 6 Pi 6 1 i ¼ 1; 2 ð6Þ
step-up converter.
As a result of high switching frequency of the converter, the
2. Proposed switching strategies average output voltage during any ith sequence can be described
as follows:
The basic power circuit of a single-phase ac/ac matrix converter,
as shown in Fig. 2, is composed of four bi-directional switches. The ⎡ S11 S12 ⎤ S11
input voltage is given by: ⎢ ⎥
⎣ S 21 S 22 ⎦ S 21
v i ðtÞ ¼ V im sin xi t ð1Þ
where Vim and xi are the peak value and angular frequency of input ON Switches During t1i, P
voltage, respectively. ON Switches During t 2i , P
The modulation strategy controls the switch duty cycles to en-
sure the low-frequency average value of the output voltage tracks Fig. 4. Switching pattern in positive switching strategy.
the desired output reference. The desired output voltage is defined
as:
v o ðtÞ ¼ V om sin xo t ð2Þ
T si
where Vom and xo are the peak value and angular frequency of the
output voltage, respectively.
S11 , S 22 t1i, P t i2, P

t1i t 2i t
S12 , S 21

Tsi t
Fig. 3. Sampling period in single-phase matrix converter. Fig. 5. Switches commands for positive switching strategy.
228 E. Babaei et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 32 (2010) 225–235

v o ðtÞ ¼ ðP1  P2 Þv i ðtÞ ð7Þ T si

From Eqs. (1), (2), (5), and (7), the unique solution for duty cycle
functions of P1 and P2 will be as follows:
xo t S12 , S 21 t 1i , N t i2, N
1 þ VVom sin
sin x t
P1 ¼ im i

2 ð8Þ
1  VVom sin xo t
sin x t
t
P2 ¼ im i

2 S11 , S 22
Considering the constraint mentioned in Eq. (6), the maximum
amplitude of the output voltage is given by:
  t
V om sin xo t 
 
 V sin x t  6 1 ð9Þ
Fig. 7. Switches commands for negative switching strategy.
im i

Eq. (9) should be valid for any time. This means that when
sin xi t goes to zero, then sin xo t must go to zero. Therefore, the in- Eq. (3) can be rewritten as follows:
put and output waveforms must be synchronized and the funda-
N1 þ N2 ¼ 1 ð14Þ
mental of output voltage must cross zero more frequently than
the input voltage. Hence, the single-phase matrix converter is a fre- It is obvious that:
quency step-up converter. Therefore, the relation between input
0 6 Ni 6 1 i ¼ 1; 2 ð15Þ
and output angular frequencies is given as follows:
If the switching frequency of the converter is selected high, then
xo ¼ k  xi k ¼ 1; 2; 3; . . . ð10Þ
he output voltage is defined by:
From Eqs. (9) and (10), the constraint mentioned in Eq. (6) can
v o ðtÞ ¼ ðN2  N1 Þv i ðtÞ ð16Þ
be rewritten as follows:
xi From Eqs. (1), (2), (14), and (16), the unique solution for duty
V om 6 V ð11Þ cycle functions of N1 and N2 will be as follows:
xo im
sin xo t
This means that the single-phase matrix converter is stepping 1  VVom
im sin xi t
N1 ¼
down the amplitude of the output voltage fundamental [12]. 2 ð17Þ
xo t
The relationship between the input and the output currents can 1 þ VVom sin
sin x t
be written as follows: N2 ¼ im i

ii ðtÞ ¼ ðP 1  P2 Þio ðtÞ
The input current spectrum
quency component plus high
low-pass filter in input side,
approximately sinusoidal input
ð12Þ
essentially consists of supply fre-
frequency components. Using a
the converter can operate with
current.
2
It is obvious that Eq. (17) should satisfy Eqs. (10) and (11). In
this strategy, the relationship between the input and the output
currents can be written as:
ii ðtÞ ¼ ðN2  N1 Þio ðtÞ ð18Þ

2.3. Combined switching strategy

2.2. Negative switching strategy

Since two switching strategies produce in general, the same

The output voltage can also be synthesized by switching the in-
output voltages, these voltages can be formed by any combination
put voltage according to Fig. 6. Two rules of this algorithm are [29]:
of positive and negative switching strategies. Fig. 8 shows the
switching patterns for the combined positive and negative switch-
During time interval ti1;N : S12 and S21 must be on, and the
ing strategies. As it can be seen, the output can be established from
remaining switches must be off.
During time interval ti2;N : S11 and S22 must be on, and the
a part of the positive modulation strategy and b part of the nega-
tive modulation strategy. The simulation and experimental results
remaining switches must be off.

Fig. 7 shows the switch commands during ith sampling period.

By defining the following switch patterns:
TSi

t 1;N Positive Negative

N1 ¼
TS Switching Switching
ð13Þ
t 2;N
N2 ¼ α ⋅ T Si
TS β ⋅ TSi

S11, S 22 t 1i , P t i2, P t 1i , N t i2, N

⎡ S11 S12 ⎤ S11
⎢ ⎥ t
⎣ S 21 S 22 ⎦ S 21
S12, S 21
ON Switches During t 2i , N
ON Switches During t1i, N t
Fig. 6. Switching algorithm for negative switching strategy. Fig. 8. Switching period for the combined positive and negative strategies.
 E. Babaei et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 32 (2010) 225–235
will show that the factors a and b have a strong influence on the
elimination of the low order harmonics and reduction of THD.
Using Eqs. (7) and (16), the output voltage can be written as fol-
lows [29]:
v o ðtÞ ¼ a  ðP1  P2 Þv i ðtÞ þ b  ðN2  N1 Þv i ðtÞ
where
aþb¼1
Also, using Eqs. (12) and (18), the relationship between input
and output currents is given by the following equation [29]:
ii ðtÞ ¼ a  ðP1  P2 Þio ðtÞ þ b  ðN2  N 1 Þio ðtÞ
3. Output currents
The relation between the output current and voltage for an
inductive load is as follows:
dio ðtÞ
v o ðtÞ ¼ R  io ðtÞ þ L
dt
The fundamental of the output current is expressed by the fol-
lowing equation:
  
V om Lxo
io ðtÞ ¼ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi sin xo t  tan1
R quires an isolated gate driver circuit, so the gate driver circuits will
R2 þ ðLxo Þ2
The output current spectrum essentially consists of fundamen-
tal plus high frequency components. Using a low-pass filter on the
output side, the converter can operate with approximately sinusoi-
dal output current.
4. Hardware implementation of the single-phase ac/ac matrix
converter
In order to verify the theoretical analysis of the proposed
switching strategies, a laboratory prototype of the single-phase
matrix converter was built and tested with a passive R–L load.
Fig. 9 shows the photo of the experimental prototype. The con-
verter is fed by a voltage transformer with variable voltage transfer
ratio to adjust the input voltage. The main parameters of the ma-
trix converter according to the values used in [12] are listed in
Table 1.
The matrix converter requires four bi-directional switches with
capability of blocking voltage and conducting current in both
Fig. 9. Experimental set-up of the single-phase matrix converter.
229
Table 1
Main parameters of the matrix converter.
Parameter Value
Vim
pffiffiffi
50 2V
pffiffiffi
ð19Þ Vom 25 2V
fi 50 Hz
fo 100 Hz
fs 1 kHz
ð20Þ R 20 X
L 40 mH
ð21Þ
directions. There are several arrangement can be used to create
such a bi-directional switch [30,31]. Fig. 10 presents a number of
these connections. To simplify the scheme of the converter, it is
interesting to consider the advantages and disadvantages of each
structure. The switch which is shown in Fig. 10a is easy to control,
but its on-state voltage drop is high. It is equal to the sum of volt-
age drops of two diodes and one insulated-gate bipolar transistor
ð22Þ (IGBT). A comprehensive analysis shows that the embedded switch
topology implies higher conduction losses through two diodes and
one IGBT and higher switching losses (hard switching) [31]. The
switch shown in Fig. 10b decreases the on-state voltage drop, but
needs two IGBTs. One possible disadvantage is that each IGBT re-
ð23Þ
be expensive. Also, this arrangement is often not feasible in a large
practical system since the inductance between commutation
switches causes problems [31]. Fig. 10c shows the common emitter
configuration. The conduction losses are the same to configuration
shown in Fig. 10b. The main advantage of this configuration over
the previous one is that the two IGBTs in each bi-directional switch
can be driven with respect to the same point, i.e., the same com-
mon emitter that can be considered as a local ground for the bi-
directional switch. On the other hand, each bi-directional switch
requires an isolated power supply, in order to ensure a correct
operation. Therefore, the common emitter configuration is often
preferred to create the matrix converter bi-directional switches.
So, we choose this configuration to use in the proposed matrix con-
verter. Therefore, a total of four insulated power supplies are
needed. The IGBTs are the type BUP306D with internal anti-paral-
lel diodes.
Fig. 11 shows the isolator and driver circuit of each bi-direc-
tional switch. This circuit consists of an opto-isolator, a Schmitt
trigger and a buffer. Each bi-directional switch in the matrix
converter requires an isolated driver circuit. The isolation can be
provided using either pulse transformers or opto-isolators. Opto-
isolators can work in a wide range of input signal pulse width,
but a separate isolated power supply is required for each switching
device. The opto-isolator based on the gate driver circuit is used in
this prototype.
The square safe operating area of the IGBT for switch mode oper-
ation minimizes the need for snubber circuits in most applications
(a) (b) (c)
Fig. 10. Some various methods for arranging bi-directional switches from unidi-
rectional switches: (a) diode embedded configuration, (b) common collector
configuration and (c) common emitter configuration.
230 E. Babaei et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 32 (2010) 225–235

Gate Driver Fig. 12 shows the control block diagram of the single-phase ma-
trix converter. The values of switching patterns were calculated by
R means of programming in microcontroller, sampled at switching
Input frequency (fs) and the passed to the memory of the microcontroller
Signal C as a look-up table. The 89C52 microcontroller by ATMEL Company
Buffer has been used to generate the switching patterns according to the
Opto − Schmit proposed switching strategies. The reading cycle from the look-up
isolator Trigger table is synchronized to the mains’ voltage (fi = 50 Hz) by the syn-
chronizer circuit. The operation of this circuit is based on zero
Fig. 11. Gate driver circuit of bi-directional switch. crossing detector. It is important to mention that in the positive
switching strategy, b is zero. Similarly, in the negative switching
strategy, a is zero. Finally, in the combined switching strategy, it
is assumed that a = b = 0.5. These values are optimal for reduction
of THD and dc voltage on the output side and independent of the
load. Paying attention to Section 2, it is obvious that while extract-
Microcontoroller
ing output voltage equations, load type and also its magnitude
(89C 52)
emerges in none of the proposed strategies. Therefore, proposed
Gate Signals strategies are independent from the load. As the simulation results
S 21 S11 S12 S 22 will show if a or b is selected greater than 0.5, then the value of the
Driver Driver Driver Driver low order harmonics on input and output sides will increase.
The sum of the switching times for switches S11 and S12 must be
( S 21 ) ( S11 ) ( S12 ) ( S 22 )
equal to the switching period (Ts). Similarly, the sum of the switch-
ing times for switches S21 and S22 must be equal to the switching
Synchronizer
period (Ts). In the positive switching strategy, the switches S11
Circuit and S22 have been on and the switches S12 and S21 have been off
S11 S12 Load
for the same time, during the time interval ti1;P in ith sequence.
S 21 S 22
Then, the switches S12 and S21 will conduct and the switches S11
and S22 will turn off during the time interval ti2;P in ith sequence.
Similarly, in the negative switching strategy, the switches S12 and
+ S21 must be on during the time interval ti1;N and the switches S11
−
and S22 must be on during the time interval ti2;N in ith sequence. Fi-
nally, according to Fig. 8, during the time interval t i2;P þ t i1;N the
switches S12 and S21 must be on and during the time interval
Fig. 12. Control block diagram.
ti2;N þ t i1;P the switches S11 and S22 must be on.

such as the voltage source inverter. However, it is necessary to use
a snubber circuit in the matrix converter due to the absence of
freewheeling paths. In the matrix converter the load current is al-
ways commutated from one controlled switch to another. In the
matrix converter a time delay can be easily introduced between
drive signals for complementary devices in order to avoid simulta-
neous conduction. During this delay time, the inductive load cur-
rent is taken over by a snubber circuit [32]. In this converter, a
small R–C turn-off snubber connected across each bi-directional
switch is used to limit the device voltage to an appropriate level
as depicted in Fig. 11. It is important to mention that the main
focus of this paper was to develop the switching strategies and
therefore the problem of optimized snubber design was not pur-
sued further. The values of R and C in the snubber circuit are
10 X and 0.022 lF, respectively.
5. Simulation and experimental results
The matrix converter shown in Fig. 2 has been simulated by
PSCAD software [33]. The simulation was used to confirm the prin-
ciple of modulation strategies developed in Section 2. Also, in order
to confirm the feasibility of the proposed single-phase ac/ac matrix
converter, an experimental prototype based on the proposed
switching strategies has been constructed.
The simulation and experimental results for the single-phase
matrix converter for positive switching strategy are presented in
[12]. In order to clarity the problem, these results are repeated in
this paper.
Fig. 13 shows the simulation and experimental results for out-
put voltage in positive switching strategy. As this figure shows
the output voltage consists of some pieces of input voltage.

Positive Switching
Vo [V]
100

50

-50

-100
0.0000 0.0050 0.0100 0.0150 0.0200

Fig. 13. Output voltage for positive switching strategy; left: simulation; right: experimental.
 E. Babaei et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 32 (2010) 225–235 231

Positive Switching
Io [A]
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
-0.50
-1.00
-1.50
-2.00
0.0000 0.0100 0.0200 0.0300 0.0400

(a) Positive switching strategy

Negative Switching
Io [A]
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
-0.50
-1.00
-1.50
-2.00
0.0000 0.0100 0.0200 0.0300 0.0400

(b) Negative switching strategy

Combined Switching
Io [A]
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
-0.50
-1.00
-1.50
-2.00
0.0000 0.0100 0.0200 0.0300 0.0400

(c) Combined switching strategy

Fig. 14. Output current; left: simulation; right: experimental.

Fig. 14 shows the simulation and experimental results for out- X

1
2pn X1
2pn
put current. As this figure shows in both positive and negative
v o ðtÞ ¼ A0 þ An cos tþ Bn sin t ð24Þ
n¼1
Ti n¼1
Ti
switching strategies, the output current is not symmetrical and it
has a considerable dc component. Therefore, in transformer appli-
In this case, the Fourier coefficients are given by
cations it may cause saturation of the transformer. In combined
switching strategy, the output current is symmetrical and there f
k¼ s
Xfi V im
is a considerable reduction in the dc component. A0 ¼ ½cos½ðk  1Þxi T s   2 cos½ðk  1Þxi T s þ dk 
Fig. 15 shows the simulation and experimental results for input k¼1
2p
current.
 cosðkxi T s Þ ð25Þ
Fig. 16 shows the spectrums of different quantities on input
and output sides for three switching strategies. According to this
k¼fs
figure in both of the positive and negative switching strategies, Xfi V im  2
the output current, contains mainly fo and ðfs þ Df Þ harmonics, An ¼  cos½xi ðn þ 1Þ½ðk  1ÞT s þ dk 
k¼1
2 p n þ 1
where Df is a function of fi and fo. It is important to note that
there are some other low order harmonic components, too. Since 1
þ cos½xi ðn þ 1Þðk  1ÞT s 
the load of the converters is almost a low-pass filter (R–L), then nþ1
the output current contains less high order harmonics than the 2
þ cos½xi ðn  1Þ½ðk  1ÞT s þ dk 
output voltage. n1
In mathematics, a Fourier series decomposes a periodic function 1 1
 cos½xi ðn  1Þðk  1ÞT s  þ cos½xi kðn þ 1ÞT s 
into a sum of simple oscillating functions, namely sines and co- n1 nþ1

sines. The Fourier series of the output voltage according to 1
 cos½xi kðn  1ÞT s  ð26Þ
Fig. 17 is given by n1
232 E. Babaei et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 32 (2010) 225–235

Positive Switching
Ii [A]
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
-0.50
-1.00
-1.50
-2.00
0.0000 0.0100 0.0200 0.0300 0.0400
(a) Positive switching strategy

Negative Switching
Ii [A]
2.0

1.0

0.0

-1.0

-2.0
0.0000 0.0100 0.0200 0.0300 0.0400
(b) Negative switching strategy

Combined Switching
Ii [A]
2.0

1.0

0.0

-1.0

-2.0
0.0000 0.0100 0.0200 0.0300 0.0400
(c) Combined switching strategy
Fig. 15. Input current; left: simulation; right: experimental.

40V
1A 0.5A
vo io ii
(Positive ) (Positive) (Positive)

0 0 0

40V
1A 0.5A
vo io ii
( Negative) ( Negative) ( Negative)

0 0 0

40V
1A 0.5A
vo io ii
(Combined ) (Combined ) (Combined )

0 0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
frequency [ kHz ] frequency [ kHz ] frequency [ kHz ]

Fig. 16. The spectrums of different quantities on input and output sides; first row: positive switching; second row: negative switching; third row: combined switching; first
column: output voltage; second column: output current; third column: input current.
 E. Babaei et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 32 (2010) 225–235 233

Vo [V] positive negative combined

40V
output voltage
20V

0
0 50 100 150 200 250

0.12A
output current
0.8A

( k − 1)Ts 0.4A
Ts − δ k 0
0 50 100 150 200 250
δk Ti
0.6A
input current
Fig. 17. The output voltage for calculating the Fourier series. 0.4A
0.2A
0
f
0 50 100 150 200 250
k¼ fs
Xi V im 
2 frequency [Hz]
Bn ¼ sin½xi ðn  1Þ½ðk  1ÞT s þ dk 
k¼1
2 p n  1 Fig. 18. Peak values of the low order harmonics of different quantities on input and
1 output sides.
 sin½xi ðn  1Þðk  1ÞT s 
n1
2
 sin½xi ðn þ 1Þ½ðk  1ÞT s þ dk  harmonics. This is also obvious in the output current waveforms
nþ1
in both positive and negative strategies. As it is shown in the out-
1
þ sin½xi ðn þ 1Þðk  1ÞT s  put current waveforms (Fig. 14), asymmetry in the waveforms in
nþ1
 positive and negative strategies is different from each other from
1 1 the viewpoint of occurring times. As in positive strategy in each
 sin½xi kðn  1ÞT s  þ sin½xi kðn þ 1ÞT s  ð27Þ
n1 nþ1 period, the output current waveform has got a low amplitude in
In the above equations, dk is the duty cycle during any kth se- the second half cycle; meanwhile the negative strategy has got a
quence and obtain according to the proposed switching strategies. low amplitude in the first half cycle of each period. As it is derived
The Fourier series of the output current for an inductive load (R–L) from the output current waveforms, the amplitude reduction mag-
is as follows: nitude is the same for both strategies. Therefore, with the equal
combination of these waveforms (a = b = 0.5), this asymmetry is
A0 X 1
An X1
minimized. This minimization is obviously seen in the output cur-
io ðtÞ ¼ þ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi cosðnxi t  /n Þ þ
R rent waveform of the combined strategy. The frequency spectrum
n¼1 R2 þ ðnxi LÞ2 n¼1
of the output waveforms (Fig. 16) also verifies this issue. If the
Bn share of the negative and positive strategies in the combined con-
 qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi sinðnxi t  /n Þ ð28Þ
R þ ðnxi LÞ2
2 trol strategy is not chosen the same, depending upon which strat-
egy has got a higher portion, in each output cycle and its relevant
where half cycles, amplitude reduction will occur and consequently the
  total symmetry of the output voltage will be lost. So, the optimum
nxi L
/n ¼ tan1 ð29Þ values of a and b equals 0.5.
R
In power quality analysis, distortion of a waveform is often rep-
In both of the positive and negative switching strategies, the in- resented by its total THD:
put current not only contains mainly the 50 Hz, 150 Hz and sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1 X 1
ðfs þ Df Þ orders, but also it contains a dc component and 100 Hz THD ¼ I2h ð30Þ
and 200 Hz harmonics. It is important to note that elimination of I1 h¼2
the low order components is very difficult.
Here, I1 is the rms value of the fundamental frequency
In combined switching strategy, the spectrums of the quantities
component of the analyzed waveform; Ih is the rms value of its
on input and output sides show that there are significant reduc-
hth harmonic.
tions in the values of the amplitudes of the low order harmonic
Table 2 shows THD of the quantities on input and output sides
components. In this method, the output voltage and current con-
for three switching strategies based on simulations with amplitude
tain fo and ðfs þ Df Þ harmonics that are easily attenuated by small
of up to the 170th harmonic. Reduction of THD of the input
output filter to have only the fundamental. In combined switching
and output currents is achieved by the combined switching
strategy, the input current spectrum contains mainly the 50 Hz,
strategy.
150 Hz and ðfs þ Df Þ that are attenuated by the input filter to leave
a virtually sinusoidal supply current.
Fig. 18 shows the peak values of the low order harmonics for the
quantities on input and output sides by three switching strategies.
Table 2
As this figure shows the low order input current harmonics are sig- THD of voltage and currents.
nificantly decreased using the combined switching strategy.
Positive switching Negative switching Combined switching
Paying attention to the output voltage waveforms and its fre-
quency spectrum (Figs. 13 and 16) we can see that the output volt- THD vo 1.71 1.58 1.74
THD io 0.23 0.21 0.19
age in both negative and positive strategies is asymmetrical and
THD ii 2.31 2.38 2.12
consequently has got a dc component and considerable low order
234 E. Babaei et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 32 (2010) 225–235

Fig. 19. Output current (fs = 10 kHz); left: positive switching; middle: negative switching; right: combined switching.

positive negative combined 7. Conclusion

40V
output voltage In this paper, a single-phase ac/ac matrix converter has been
20V simulated and implemented. The simulation results have a good
agreement with measurement results, which verifies the modeling
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 of this converter with the developed switching strategies. The algo-
rithms ensure that the switches do not short-circuit the voltage
0.12A
output current sources, and do not open-circuit the current sources.
0.8A Using the combined switching strategy, some of the harmonics
0.4A of the input and output currents and the output voltage near the
0 fundamental can be eliminated. Reduction of more than 50% in
0 50 100 150 200 250
the dc component of the quantities on input and output sides is an-
0.6A other advantage of the combined switching strategy.
input current
0.4A
0.2A References
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